On the morning of December 10th I'm going on a three night backpack trip to Shawnee State Forest Backpack Trail. I've looked at the trail map and suggestions of several that "Site 6" is a must see. "Site 5" is also supposedly nice to camp at. With that in mind my planned route is:

Southern Loop, Counter-Clockwise
Day 1 (Th) - Trail Head -> Site 6 = 9.6 miles
Day 2 (Fr) - Site 6 -> Site 5 = 3.2 miles (after camp setup a day hike will occur)
Day 3 (Sat) - Site 5 -> Site 6 = 3.2 miles (another day hike)
Day 4 (Sun) - Site 6 -> Trail Head = 9.6 miles

I would like to do more miles on days 2 and 3 but it I am going to put quality in front of quantity. Days 1 and 4 are near 10 mile days so that will be fun.

Sunrise in Cinci area for the 10th is 7:46 am, sunset at 5:15 pm. Basically 8am-5pm to make memory easier. I'll be at the trail head ready to start walking at 7:30 am and will wait until there is enough light to make sure I'm heading in the right direction. I don't want to see any "Welcome to Canada" signs later in the day.

Since it will be a slower hike I'll be using my topo map and compass to follow along just to brush up on those skills. If I am allowed to start a small fire I'll use non-lighter methods (but I'll have a lighter with me) to give my fire starting kit some practice. Additionally if I have time I'll prepare some items to work on tree identification, something I'm fairly poor at. If I come across any meth heads I'll work on my target practice skills.

Lunch on the trail on days 1 and 4 to make sure I stop and enjoy the day. I could march through but I'm trying to slow down.